Rubber sole and heel combination and shoe containing the same



April 18, 1939. c D. GARBUTT 2,154,612

RUBBER SOLE AND. HEEL COMBINATION AND SHOE CONTAINING THE SAME Filed Sept. 22, 1937 Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PAT EN 10 F F I C E RUBBER SOLE AND HEEL COMBINATION AND SHOE CONTAINING THE SAME 6 Claims.

This invention relates toshoes and shoe making and is particularly concerned withshoes provided with soles and heels made of rubber and materials like or equivalent to rubber. Within the scope of equivalents indicated here are so called fiber soles and heels, frequently used in making and repairing shoes, and all soles and heels in which adulterants and other substances are incorporated with rubber, and those in which wear-resisting and anti-slipping inserts are contained. Thus the terms rubber sole and rub-- ber heel are used generically hereinto include soles and heels of all materials which have sufficient flexibility, toughness and resilience to function in the manner described in the following specification. Practically all soles and heels having the necessary properties for so acting contain more or less vulcanized rubber; and all such are of course embraced within the scope of this invention and of the appended claims. :But it is intended to include within such protection also those made of all equivalent substances.

The object of the invention is to provide sole and heel. combinations in which the heels .have

' square breasts, to attach such soles by lines of fastenings which extend to points close to or under the heel breasts, to attach the heel and heel end of the sole by a single set of nails and a single nailing operation, to eliminate necessity of trimming, scouring or otherwise fitting the edges of the sole and heel after application to a shoe, and to afford a means by which the heel can easily be renewed when worn out before the sole is sufficiently worn to require renewal.

In the drawing furnished herewith,'

Fig. l is a side View of a shoe in the position for stitching the sole and heel combination .of this invention tothe shoe bottom. It illustrates the method phase of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an under plan view of the sole .and heel combination attached to a shoe;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the soleand heel combination alone;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of' the bottom part of the finished shoe, showing in dotted lines the innersole and the heel fastening nails.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occur in all the figures.

The sole a and heel bconstitute a unit in which the parts are connected together either integrally, or in any equivalent way. In the preferred form the sole and heel, of, composition containing unvulcanized rubber, are vulcanized together at the rear portion only, so that an integral connecting neck is left, such as that indicated at 0. .Union elsewhere is prevented by the insertion, in thevulcanizing mold, between the heelpart of the sole and the heel, of a thin parting layer which will not adhere to the rub-- her. before, during or .aftervulcanization, and is removed after the combined article is taken from the mold. Such parting layer may be a piece of thin'waxed paper orany-other material to which the rubber will not adhere and which is thin enoughtoleave .no. appreciable space after removalrbetween the unconnected parts of the sole and heel. :In the courseof vulcanization the outlines of the'sole-andheel are so shaped by the moldthattheir edges are caused to register exactly-throughout theirv length in common. The parting layer is placed with its rear end near enough to the rear end of the heel and sole to make a division so long, and the integral connection so narrow, that the forward portion of the heel may be bent up or, if desired, pushed aside, far enough to-permit insertion of. fastening means through .thesole at points close to and across the. breast :line of the heel. But at the sametimethe locationand direction of said rear edgeare such as: to make the connecting neck-c wide enough to maintain and restore register between the .sideedges of the sole and heel when. not acted upon by distorting lateral, force. Location oftherear edge ot-the parting layer approximately at the .dotted line (1 in Fig. 2 is suitable for. both these purposes, but the location of this edge maybe. shiftedconsiderably forward or rearward-and its outline varied considerably, without: detriment to the accomplishment of my objects.

Combined soles :and heels containing the invention may be made of any lengths, widths and outlines needed to tit-exactly all sizes and styles .of shoes, with .-.any desired uni-form or nonuniform thickness-of sole, with any desired height A of heel,-and with the breast of the heel square as shown, or at any desiredbevel or inclination vertically or laterally, or with any desired curvature or outline theside to side direction.

Equivalent to the integral vulcanized union above described, within the contemplation of this invention and within the scope of the more generic of the appended claims, is a union between the sole and heel elements of the unit combination effected by any other suitable means, such as staples, passed through the rear portions of said elements prior to attachment to the shoe, in numbers and locations suitable to maintain the desired alinement, and restore it after displacement, when unafiected by external forces,

while permitting springing or turning of the forward part of the heel element out of register with the adjacent part of the sole element.

The sole and heel combination is placed on the bottom of a shoe and, after being secured by temporary fastenings, is permanently secured by any of the usual or suitable means of attaching outer soles. That is, the sole may be secured by thread stitches e made by a sewing machine, or by nails or staples set bya nailing machine. The separability of the sole and heel enables the forward portion of the heel to be lifted or moved aside far enough to permit the presser foot, needle and awl of a sewing machine, or the nail-guide and driver of a nailing machine, to act at the breast line of the heel and, if desired, at points in rear thereof. So, in the stitching or nailing operation, the forward end of the heel is-thus-displaced,'the line of stitches or line of nails is started at a point close to the breast line, or any desired distance in rear of the breast line, continued in the usual manner, and ended at a point near or in rear of the breast line near the oppositeedge of the sole from the starting point. Y

The invention is well adapted to shoes made by the Littleway process, the McKay process and nailing processes, which require no trimming of the edges of the sole after stitching when a sole of the right size is used. However, it may be employed in shoes of any other types and with the employment of any suitable mode of connecting the sole. It enables the fastening means to secure the sole tightly throughout its length, and prevents unsightly gaps from opening between the outsole and the shoe bottom near the heel breast.

When the sole connecting operation is completed the heel is released and allowed to assume its normal position. By virtue ofits connection with the sole it springs back into exact lateral register with the sole, and it is then made fast by nails 1 driven through it and clinched into the innersole g, as shown by dotted-lines in Fig. 4. The registry of the sole and heel so effected is so accurate that no fitting, trimming, edge finishing or scouring of their contiguous edges is needed. Thereby an item of considerable expense in the method heretofore practised is avoided. Again a single set of nails 1 suffices to secure both the heel and the heel end of the sole to the shoe, whereby are eliminated the nailingstep and the nails heretofore needed to make fast the heel end of the sole before the heel is applied.

Thus the invention effects substantial savings in the cost of shoe manufacture while containing all the utility of the rubber heels and soles previously used.

If the heel wears down too far before the sole is worn through, a new'heel may be substituted after drawing the nails and cuttingthrough the narrow connecting neck. The barest minimum of time and labor sufiices to cut through the neck and bring the cut surface into smooth continuity with the adjacent surface of the sole. Of course an entire new combined unit may be substituted when both the heel and sole are worn out.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of applying an outer sole and a heel to a shoe which consists in providing such a sole and heel in permanent resilient connection with one another at their rear portion and disunited at and adjacent to the breast of the heel, applying such sole and heel combination to the bottom of the shoe, displacing the breast end of the heel, fastening the sole to the shoe by a row of fastening means extending from the fore part 'ofthe sole to points in rear of the breast line of the heel, replacing the heel against the outer face of the sole, and driving nails through the heel into the shoe.

2. The new step inthe application of a sole and a heel to a shoe, comprising providing a combined sole and heel unit of which the sides of the heel and adjacent edges of the sole are in substantially exact register and the heel and sole are connected together at their rear portion only in a manner permitting separation of the breast portion of the heel from the sole while causing such 4 register of the heel with the sole when unaffected by external force, and stitching the sole to the shoe with displacement of the breast portion of the heel out of register with the sole and extending the ends of the lines of stitches to rear of the breast line of the heel.

3. A shoe including an outer sole and a heel in permanent union with one another at their rear portion only and being disunited at and adjacent to the breast of the heel, and stitches securing the sole to the shoe extending in lines from the fore part toward the heel end thereof beyond the breast line of the heel.

4. A shoe including an outer sole and a heel in integral union with one another at their rear portion only and being disunited at and adjacent to the breast of the heel, a fastening means securing the sole to the shoe in lines extending from the fore part toward the heel end thereof beyond the breast line of the heel, and asingle set of nails securing both the heel and the rear end of the sole to the shoe.

5. A self contained outersole and heel combination in which the sole and heel are united at the rear portion only and disunited elsewhere, the division between them extending throughout the full width of the heel for a distance rearward from the breast end thereof suflicient to permit displacement of the forward part of the heel bodily from the adjacent part of the sole.

6. A self contained outersole and heel combination of vulcanized rubber composition in which the sole and heel are integrally united at their rear portions and are disconnected from the breast end of the heel rearwardly throughout the entire width of the heel for a distance sufficient to permit displacement of that portion of the heel bodily from'the adjacent portion'of the sole.

CHARLES DALE GARBUTT. 

